06 November 2014

This image from the Landsat-8 satellite brings us over part of the Middle East, with the Jordan Rift Valley running north to south.

The most prominent feature in this image is the Dead Sea: the lowest point on Earth's surface, more than 420 m below sea level. The extremely high salinity means fish cannot live in this water body, although there are bacteria and fungi.

06 November 2014

A decommissioned Soviet-era ballistic missile - adapted for space launches instead of nuclear war - rocketed out of an underground silo and sent five Japanese Earth observing satellites into orbit Thursday.

09 - 13 November 2015

COSPAR has initiated a new series of scientific meetings, the Symposia, aimed at promoting space research at a regional level and to be organised in countries with medium or small size space infrastructures. The theme of the 2nd Symposium will be "Water and Life in the Universe". It will feature plenary lectures as well as parallel sessions and poster sessions.

Topics include:

Water and life in the universe and on Earth: impact on human consciousness and societies

Satellite and probe missions for water remote sensing on Earth, planets, and other celestial bodies

This database is based on the book of Herbert J. Kramer Observation of the Earth and its Environments and describes over 600 missions in detail. Online updated version of "Earth Observation History of Technical Introduction" available as of January 02, 2017.